I
am a fiction writer, and when I read news like this, I wish, I wish, I wish it was fiction. I wish these kinds of horrific deeds were only
in movies and books, to astonish audiences and stir emotion. But they aren’t:
mindless acts of terror such as this happen in real life. And they happen in
America, possibly the most privileged country in the world, a country that
wants everyone to think we have it all figured out.
Clearly,
we don’t have it all figured out.
I
have considered the argument that events such as these should not be fixated
upon by the media, that the gunmen receive too much “fame,” and the news
coverage unintentionally inspires other acts of violence. There may be
something to this—but on the other hand, if we’re to find an effective way to
preventing such horrors in the future, we must
understand the perpetrators. Not just authorities and lawmakers, all of us: if
we truly live in a democracy, then we are all the lawmakers. And we understand
people by telling their story.
I
will not spout my personal opinions on the political issues at hand here, I
will only state with the deepest possible human conviction what I believe we
all can and should agree on: something must change. Clearly, what we are doing
now – arguing and delaying – does nothing but give time for seeds of madness to
take root and grow, for arsenals to be stockpiled and massacres to be planned
in detail. Friday’s victims could have been me, they could have been you; they
could have been your friends; they could have been your parent, your sibling,
or your child. Every day we are not pushing for change, we line ourselves up as
possible targets, and perhaps worse we passively take on part of the blame.
I
debated with myself before posting this, as it does not seem relevant to my
blog. But the idea of saying nothing, of going on my merry way even in the
blogosphere, and pretending that everything is OK, literally sickens me. This
is everyone’s business. It should be among our top business. This year in the
state of Ohio, there will be elections for a state governor and sixteen seats
in the U.S. House of Representatives—those running for office had better be
paying attention, because I damn well know I am.